Looking for 2 new seats

And seeing as how I got so much help with booster advice I thought I would ask about seats.

I am looking for a new seat for my daughter, she is in a graco cargo in the van and an evenflo one in the truck (I think it maybe the chase model, it a spare I had and use it for the truck now that we use two vehicles) it has served its purpose for short trips to town and dump runs with daddy, but we have been going on longer trips in the truck and she is not very comfy in it and infacts wakes up crying alot . So I am looking to move the graco seat to the truck and install a new seat in the van. She is 4 years old 37.5 lbs and when I measure her sitting on the floor she is 14.5 inches to the top of her shoulders. I am going to try to talk hubby into a trufit if I can find one on sale (I think its on sale at babies r us) will this seat fit in the rear of my astro van with another evenflo chase and an apex 65? (her seat now does)

and I am also talking to hubby now about a trufit for my nephew. He is almost 11 months and probably about 24lbs.

Any other suggestions for seats for me? hoping to stay around or under 150 (as I just bought a booster for my son and now 2 more carseats). I saw that walmart has the 3-1 for under 100. and they go to 50lbs. Would this seat work? I wont use it for a booster as I know they are crappy but is it an ok seat for my nephew rf and ff for my daughter?

Are you wanting to use the True Fit for both your daughter and your nephew (same seat just moved foward facing for one and rearfacing for the other) or were you going to buy two different seats?

If you are just needing a seat for forward facing use, it might be better to buy a combination seat (forward facing and booster) since you won't utilize the seat rearfacing. If you have a need to pass the seat down to someone else who needs the seat rearfacing though, a convertible carseat would be a good choice.

Have you checked out the Evenflo Maestro? It looks like it only goes to 47lbs harnessed in Canada, but it has a really tall top harness slot (18 inches). As long as your daughter doesn't gain too quckly, it should last a while. It also turns into a pretty good booster, though the booster belt guides don't adjust and are not very tall so it will probably not fit too long in booster mode.

What are the ages/stats of your other kids? It sounds like you have a number of seats in your van. It might be better to shuffle seats around and give one of your other children a new seat.

The True Fit isn't really a three-across friendly seat. It's very wide, quite a bit wider than a Cargo. I also would suggest the Evenflo Maestro for your daughter. It's regularly around $130, I believe. It's fairly narrow as well from what I understand. As the previous poster said, a rundown of all the kids in the van with their stats, what they ride in and where in the van they sit would be very helpful. Also let us know where you tether anchors are and which positions have lap/shoulder belts.

Ok so I didnt have as much time as I thought to ponder over seats, I had my nephew all day today and will have him tommorrow. So I went to walmart to look at the 3-1 seat on sale and of course they were sold out...got a rain check and then went to zellers to see what they had. I ended up buying him a 3-1 (I like the cover better ) for $129.99. I decided to go with that one as I will get the most years out of it (8) and it wont matter if he needs a different seat later, as I usually have a daycare child or I will sell the seat when I am done with it. But I am still looking at a new seat for my daughter, just probably wont be right away (as I bought the monterey on monday and the 3-1 today).

Right now I have the 3-1 in the middle seat (lap belt only rf) front bench (not the front seat). And in the back of the van I have a graco cargo for my 4 year old daughter (37.5lbs and 14.5inches to the top of her shoulder sitting) I have an evenflo chase (I think that is what it is or very similar) for my daycare boy who is 40lbs (not sure his height but he is in the 2nd to last slot) this seat is in the middle spot, lap belt only. And my son is in the far spot in an apex 65 (he is 55lbs) and in the last slot with room still.

I want to move the cargo to the truck middle back seat and find something comfy for my daughter to use in the van (Just cause I want the new seat in there LOL) she is in another chase like (cant rember the exact model of the two I have) but hers in the truck is older and she is not comfy at all when we go for longer trips or if she falls asleep...she always wakes up crying. If worst came to worse I would just put a new seat in the truck.

edited* I decided against the true fit for him because I read that once they are over 22lbs you have to use the removeable head piece...I thought it would be great if it was a shorter seat as I was putting it in the middle to utulize the shoulder belts on each side.

I just wanted to add that so far this is the best option for seating arangements...to make the most of my space I need all three carseats in the back as I also have a 17 year old DD and a 10 year old niece who ride with us. And I prefer the daycare seat inbetween my kids seats as they are 4 and 5 and this way we dont have to deal with someone "touching" someone elses seat LOL

I'd still suggest looking at the Maestro for your daughter.

I have yet to see this seat in my city, but we have a bru about 40 min away...I will not buy it on line as I want to sit her in it and see how it works. I read in this thread http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=109121 that it has narrow harness straps...that is a no go for us so I will want to see how it fits her. That is one problem with the seat we have in the truck now.